Can action research be made more rigorous in a positivist sense? The contribution of an iterative approach
How can action research be made more rigorous? This paper discusses action research, positivism and some major criticisms of action research by positivists. It then examines issues relating the conduct of IS research in organisations through multiple iterations in the action research cycle proposed by Susman and Evered. It is argued that the progress through iterations allows the researcher to gradually broaden the research scope and in consequence add generality to the research findings.